I Missed You
by Femslash Fetale
Summary: Garnet allowed a near imperceptible smile to settle on her face. "Open wide." Steven still refused to turn his head. "Here comes the choo chooooooo." Steven peeked around. Maybe it was an actual choo choo! But no, it was just Garnet with that green goop. He didn't like the green goop. Why did she want him to eat that stuff? He just wanted his juice!


A/N: I really love Steven and Garnet together. It's my absolute favorite relationship Steven has. It's just. So. _**Cute**_. Square Mom and her cinnamon roll are absolutely too adorable. I had to pause and give myself to roll around when I saw him sit in her lap during 'Shirt Club'. Ugh. Too cute. Okay, yeah, so anyway enjoy the fic and please leave a review. They give me all the motivation I need to continue writing.

I Missed You

Garnet stood over Steven's crib, looking down at her half-human charge. He looked back up at her, raising his hands towards her while smiling that baby smile that she loved so much. He only had a few teeth at the moment, but that just made it cuter.

"Hello," Garnet said, leaning down to fulfill his silent request. "You're gettin' heavy." She hefted him into her arms, his legs clamping around her stomach. "Are y' sure y' only one?" Steven gave her a look, almost as if saying _You can lift a car with one hand. I'm not heavy_. Garnet chuckled. "Y' spendin' the day wit' me."

Garnet placed Steven back inside of his crib (to his _immense_ displeasure), put the necessary supplies for their outing in the baby bag, and strapped Steven's baby carrier to her body. Then she picked him back up (causing _very _happy baby sounds that made her smile slightly) and slid him into the carrier so that his back was now against her chest. With everything all set, she grabbed the bag and walked out of the house.

Garnet and Steven walked down the boardwalk, stopping every few minutes to let Steven dazzle someone with his powers of cuteness. Even after a year, Steven was still the star of the town. Garnet could hardly blame them. Not only was he absolutely adorable, he was a sweet and kind baby. If this is what humanity was, then she was happy to stay and defend it. Although, there was part of her (a _red part_) that was sure Steven's gentle nature came from Rose.

They finally caught a break from the admirers when Garnet went into the Big Donut for Steven's lunch. She sat down at a table, ordering apple juice for Steven. Garnet poured the juice into his special star covered sippy cup and gave it to him to drink while she opened and stirred his baby food.

Garnet dipped the tiny spoon and brought a small amount to Steven's mouth. Steven glared at the green goop and steadfastly drank his apple juice. _No_.

The Gem warrior pulled the sippy cup out of his so very tiny fist and set it down out of his reach. She raised the spoon again. Steven closed his eyes and turned his head. _I don't want it. _

Garnet allowed a near imperceptible smile to settle on her face. "Open wide." Steven still refused to turn his head. "Here comes the choo chooooooo."

Steven peeked around. Maybe it was an actual choo choo! But no, it was just Garnet with that green goop. He didn't like the green goop. Why did she want him to eat that stuff? He just wanted his juice!

"Y' need to eat." Garnet knew Steven disliked the mashed peas, but they didn't have any other flavor of baby food. None of them, Greg included, had had time to go shopping recently. So, this is what they had. "Please."

Steven crossed his arms. Garnet rolled all three of her eyes.

"I'll le' you 'ave a piece of a donut." This bribe made Steven turn his head. He was just starting to realize that when the Big Ones made a sound, those sounds meant things. Whenever the Big One that called him 'son' said the word 'donut', it was always followed by a tasty, sweet, round thing. Looking around, Steven noticed that there were a lot of those tasty, sweet, round things. _Maybe those were donuts? The Square Big One wants to give me a donut?_ He looked back at the spoon. _The Square Big One wants me to eat _that _so I can have a donut?_ Steven considered the spoon.

Garnet couldn't help but softly chuckle as she watched Steven weigh his options. _Even babies have to make tough choices._

Finally, after nearly a minute of deliberation, Steven slowly leaned forward and took the spoon into his mouth, quickly swallowing the mush.

"Good choice."

It took about ten minutes for Steven to devour the contents of the small jar of baby food. He would approach the spoon with his mouth slowly, Garnet inwardly chuckling at his melodramatic display. Between every bite he took a sip of apple juice, then a breath before staring at the again full spoon with a steely expression. _Such an expressive child_, Garnet thought.

When Steven was finished Garnet ordered a glazed donut, tearing off a small piece and throwing the rest of it away with the empty baby food jar. She slung the baby bag around her shoulder and reholstered Steven into the carrier, placing his juice in one of his hands, the donut piece in the other.

They spent another hour or so outside, just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere of Beach City. Steven marveled at everything he saw, and Garnet enjoyed watching him do that. She remembered being intrigued by the Earth when she first landed. Thousands of years had dulled the wonder she felt observing the humans and their world. How wonderful it must be to see the world through the eyes of a being so innocent and pure.

Garnet adjusted her glasses. "Time to go home. We have to figh' a gian' cow."

Garnet ran to the newly opened car wash, Steven laughing and squealing at the quick and bouncy motion. She dropped Steven and his supplies off with Greg, giving a quick explanation ("We have to figh' a gian' cow.") and rubbing Steven's head before jumping back towards the Temple. She could've sworn she heard Steven saying something as she left.

_Baby gibberish_, she dismissed in her mind. _I have to find Pearl and Amethyst so we can take care of this._

Greg sat on the couch in the living room of the house that the Gems had built, playing the guitar as Steven slept in his crib upstairs. The Gems had been gone for hours now; night had fallen and Greg was on his way to sleep himself. Just as he was dozing off the Warp Pad activated with its telltale sound and brilliant flash of light, starling him into wakefulness. When the magical beam dissipated Pearl and Amethyst stood on the Pad, both looking severely shaken.

"Oh, hey guys," Greg greeted them. " How was the mission? Where's...Garnet?"

Pearl and Amethyst slowly walked forward, allowing Greg to see the red and blue gems lying in Pearl's outstretched hands.

Greg gasped. "What happened?"

Pearl gently placed Ruby and Sapphire on the table. "The Gem we were after was tougher than we originally thought. Garnet was severely injured causing her to unfuse and retreat into her gems." She took a shuddering breath. "She...she'll be fine."

Amethyst stared at the ground. "How's Steven?"

Greg pointed his thumb towards the stairs. "He's in his crib, asleep."

Amethyst and Pearl glanced at each other for a brief moment. "I think," Pearl said. "i think we're going to go up and see him for a little while."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I'm just gonna go ahead and turn in. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Sapphire opened her eyes. She was standing in the living room of the house. She took a moment to remember what happened. "Ruby?"

"She hasn't come back yet."

Sapphire turned her head and saw Amethyst standing next to the open refrigerator, chewing on a bagel. "Oh, hello Amethyst."

"Yo."

Sapphire looked around, noticing for the first time that Ruby's gem was sitting on the table she was standing next to. "How long have we been gone?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Only about four days."

Sapphire nodded. That made sense. It never took her too long to regenerate, but Ruby always needed at least a week. "Where are the others?"

Pearl burst into the house before Amethyst could answer. "Amethyst, bring his bag we're going t- oh. Sapphire. I didn't know you regenerated."

"It just happened." Sapphire looked at the crying bundle that Pearl was holding protectively in her arms. "What's wrong?"

"We don't know!" Greg appeared behind Pearl in the threshold of the door. "He's been really cranky lately, and now he won't stop crying. He's not hungry, his diaper's fine and he's been sleeping fine."

Pearl took Steven's baby bag and handed it to Greg. "We're taking him to the hospital. You should come too, Sapphire. And bring Ruby in case she comes back."

Sapphire nodded, grabbing Ruby's gem and cradling it gently in her hands.

The five of them piled into Greg's van ("It's absolutely _disgusting_ in here!" "I know, right?! Good job, Greg!") and drove to the hospital in the next city fifteen minutes away, though they got there in ten ("Greg, use your turn signal!" "Awwww yeah, Greg, faster!"). They got to the hospital without accident, rushing in and demanding that Steven be attended to by a doctor ("Okay, okay, I'll get a doctor immediately, just please _put the spear away_!").

So now they were in the waiting room, Amethyst, Greg and Sapphire sitting down while Pearl stood and paced while muttering to herself.

Amethyst rolled eyes. "Pearl, he's fine."

The graceful Gem twirled around. "You don't know that! He's not like us, Amethyst, he's _human_! There are a plethora of things that could be wrong with him!"

Amethyst threw her hands into the air. "Sometimes babies just cry, y'know! He's fine!"

Pearl clenched her fists, a grim look on her face. "He might not be."

Amethyst exploded out of her seat with her eyes shut tightly, steadfastly ignoring the tears she felt burning behind her eyelids. "_He's fine_!"

Amethyst stalked away to stand at the far wall, shoulders hunched and chin tucked against her chest. She didn't move when she felt a delicate hand rest on her shoulder, or when she felt slim arms encircle her. She just stood there and stared at the ground.

Greg let his head fall into his hands. He wasn't a spiritual man, but he figured if there was a God then his son was worth praying to Him for. He couldn't lose his son. He couldn't lose his family. Not again.

Sapphire softly stroked Ruby's gem. _I hope you come out soon_, she thought. _I need you, and they need us. _

"Good news, folks. Your boy is fine."

"But, doctor, are you sure?" Pearl was confused. "If he's fine then why has he been crying so much?"

The doctor shrugged. "That, I can't tell. All I can tell you is that it's not from anything physical."

The Gems and Greg collected Steven from the hospital and drove home, this time much slower. Greg parked a few feet away from the bottom of the hill that the house was on. He decided that he would sleep there that night. He wanted to be close to his boy.

Pearl carried a still fussy Steven inside of the house and placed him in his crib. "Oh, Steven," she said softly. "What's wrong? Are you unhappy?" Steven just continued to kick and squirm, his face scrunched up and little fists balled. Pearl sighed and turned off the light.

Another week passed like that. Steven was uncharacteristically cantankerous and almost bratty. He refused to eat except when he was very hungry, he cried often and would be very uncooperative whenever someone tried to do something like bathe or change him. The Gems and Greg were at a complete loss. Sapphire seemed to be just as malcontent as Steven, just far less vocal about it. She would sit on the couch and watch Ruby's gem, Steven's crying the soundtrack to her sadness. Soon enough, her staring paid off.

"Pearl, Amethyst," Sapphire called excitedly. "Ruby's regenerating!"

Sapphire didn't notice when Pearl and Amethyst entered the room. Seconds turned into an eternity as she watched her devoted reform, cycling through a series of outfits in a silhouette of light before finally appearing in a burst of sparkles. Ruby's eyes were moving before she even hit the ground. "Sapphire?!"

"I'm right here, Ruby." Sapphire appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye, arms automatically reaching out to hug her. "Are you okay?"

Ruby smiled, her eyes glistening. "Good as new. What about you?"

"I'm fi-." Sapphire was cut off by an especially loud yell from Steven.

"What's wrong with him," Ruby asked frantically, running outside to see Steven seated on a blanket with his father on the beach. "What are you doing to him?!" Before she could run down and rescue Steven a slim hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned back to look at her devoted.

"He's been like that for almost two weeks. He's always upset."

Ruby bounced her gaze from Pearl to Amethyst, Amethyst to Greg, then finally landed Sapphire. "Well, what's bothering him?"

Sapphire slowly shook her head. "No one knows." The blue Gem allowed herself to get lost in Ruby's gaze for a few moments. "I missed you."

Ruby smiled, threading their fingers together. "I missed you, too." She leaned forward slowly and sweetly kissed Sapphire, a happy smile on both of their faces. Just as She felt Sapphire relax into the kiss, Ruby picked her up and spun her around, causing both of them to laugh merrily. A bright light shone as they fused, a feeling of peace and rightness settling within them.

"Gahw-neh."

Garnet whirled around, all three of her eyes stretched wide. _Did he just…?_

For the first time in nearly two weeks Steven was smiling. His Square Big One was back! He stretched his arms up as high as they could, squirming in anticipation of being in his Square Big One's arms. "Gahw-neh!"

Garnet looked around. Judging by the shocked expressions around her, she wasn't the only one who heard that, but she still need confirmation. "Did...di'ee.." She couldn't even say it. She felt tears coming on. But luckily, she wasn't the only one. Even Amethyst looked ready to dissolve into gross sobbing.

"Oh, Garnet," Pearl whispered through her tears. "He just said your name! His first word!"

Garnet bent down and slowly lifted Steven into her arms. He frowned when he saw her tears, then he looked around and noticed that everyone was crying. Was it his fault? Did he make them cry because he was being bad? He didn't mean to make them cry! He just really missed, "Gahw-neh." He reached up and wiped away her tears and then wrapped his tiny arms around her, snuggling his face into her hair.

Garnet gave a broken chuckled and laid her hand against his back. "I missed you, too."


End file.
